'It's a long road ahead for CBI'

NEW DELHI: The long-drawn confessional statement by Nithari killings accused Surendra Koli might not be enough to take him to the gallows and the CBI will have to do its homework well.
Going by legal experts, the statement of Koli, whose transcript was given final touches on Friday, may form the basis for his conviction for rape and murder in the trial court but CBI will still have an uphill task in producing supporting evidence to corroborate it.Criminal lawyer Manoj Taneja added: "Confession ordinarily is admissible as evidence, yet the trial court will have to judge its reliability by comparing it with the rest of evidence."
Taneja said the Supreme Court in Shankaria Vs State of Rajasthan, 1978, spoke about the procedure for judging the trustworthiness of a confessional statement. "The (trial) court should examine the confession...in the light of the surrounding circumstances and probabilities of the case. If on such examination and comparison, the confession appears to be a probable catalogue of events and naturally fits in with the rest of evidence and the surrounding circumstances, it may be taken to have satisfied the (second) test."
Criminal lawyer Paramjeet Singh, "A statement under Section 164 of CrPC is a part of investigation and not trial. An accused can retract from it and the onus will then fall on the prosecution to produce additional evidence to support its case."
Advocate Meera Bhatia said a confessional statement is not a conclusive evidence in a trial and other evidence has to be led by prosecution before a person is convicted.
Lawyer Aman Sarin, who volunteered for assisting Koli in court on Thursday, said the voluntary nature of the confessional statement also is crucial for basing a conviction on it. "The magistrate who recorded Koli's statement will have to appear as a witness in the trial court to confirm that the confession was perfectly voluntary." "The trial court can outrightly reject a confessional statement if it appears that the statement has been caused by any inducement, threat or promise," he said.
Meanwhile, Koli's second day in Patiala House courts was spent completing the unfinished tasks related to his confessional statement recorded before metropolitan magistrate Chandrashekhar on Thursday.
Sources said the transcript was read out to him before he signed it. "He got some words and expressions modified when the transcript was read out to him," said a source.
Koli, according to sources, appeared relaxed. "At one point, he even expressed surprise over the atmosphere and the good treatment he had received in the Delhi court."
Meanwhile, CBI also moved an application on Friday seeking permission to produce Koli in a Ghaziabad court.